Five Years Ago, the Justice Ministry Declared OVD-Info a “Foreign Agent”

Five years ago, the Justice Ministry declared OVD-Info a “foreign agent.” Ironically, one of the formal reasons was our materials on how to avoid liability for extremism. Five years later, we are still explaining this — only now we ourselves have received “extremist” status.

And the “foreign agent” status becomes more dangerous every year. For example, according to our data, 225 “foreign agent” organizations have had to shut down.

At the same time, the authorities hand out this status left and right for all kinds of reasons, sometimes absurd ones. The flexibility of the criteria makes it possible to label any organization or any person in Russia a “foreign agent.”

How well do you understand how this toxic status works? Does it always involve foreign funding? What can and can’t “foreign agents” do? And what about you, if you read and repost them?

⬇️ Test your knowledge with the quiz below. To read explanations for the correct answers, click the light bulb next to the question.